wagner adds pitches

[NYMets523]

And change up.

[NJMetfan4life]

The pitch is a curveball

[metsfan28]

The Mets' historic collapse in September, and the possibility that hitters are catching up to him, led closer Billy Wagner to add a changeup and curveball this spring to go along with his usually overpowering fastball and slider.

"The expectations are high around here, as they should be, and I want to be right there when we're living up to them," Wagner told the New York Post. "It was kind of a helpless feeling for me [at the end of last year]. I don't want that to happen again."

Wagner suffered from back spasms at the end of last season that kept New York's dominating closer on the shelf late as the Mets surrendered a seven-game lead in the National League East with 17 games left to play.

"It was a helpless feeling," Wagner told the newspaper. "I would have done anything to make a difference, but my body wouldn't let me."